Low cost adapted school furniture and its effectiveness on the functional performance of a child with cerebral palsy

• Grant number: 11/17272-8
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: January 01, 2012
• End date: December 31, 2012
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Education
• Principal Investigator: Ligia Maria Presumido Braccialli
• Grantee: Marco Aurélio Teixeira Piovezanni
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia e Ciências (FFC). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Marília. Marília , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Individuals with cerebral palsy present an atypical motor function, characteristic altered postures in movement coordination and muscle tone. This causes limitations in their ability to perform functional activities. In this context, the introduction of assistive technology is vital to the objective of augmenting their ability to function productively and be included in society. Oft times individuals with cerebral palsy have difficulty maintaining body dynamics, especially with seated posture which is the majority of the time during academic activities. Taking this into account, the objective of this study is to produce an adapted school desk with low cost materials and to study their efficacy in adjusting the writing motor skills of a child with cerebral palsy. The case of this study is a male child who has been diagnosed with dyskinetic cerebral palsy, attended by the "Centro de Estudos e da Educação da Saúde (CEES)" of "Faculdade de Filosofia e Ciências da Unesp", Marilia campus. The collection and registration of data will be achieved by firstly monitoring the child in regular school furniture in the sitting position while performing a writing task, after this the participant will be placed in an adapted furniture and the same processes will be used to gather information, lastly the child will be placed in regular school furniture to again be monitored to establish a comparison. The data will be analized qualitatively and quantitatively. (AU)